Did you say you had eaten or have eaten?

[teemo72]

Which one is correct?

1. Did you say you had eaten?

2. Did you say you have eaten?

 

[Tarheel]

The second one is more likely.

 

[teemo72]

The second one is more likely.

Can you give me a reason?

 

[Tarheel]

People are more likely to say "Did you say you have eaten?" than the other one. It's about what context produces what utterance.

 

[Tarheel]

They are both, of course, grammatically correct.

Nobody has said otherwise.

 

[teemo72]

[1] is correct in all contexts.

If the situation of not having eaten is still relevant at the time of asking this question, then [2] is more likely.

If person X said to person Y five minutes ago, "I have eaten my lunch."

Which one is correct if person Y asks person X now:

1. Did you say you had eaten your lunch?

2. Did you say you have eaten your lunch?

 

[emsr2d2]

Teemo72, in all three of your posts in this thread was a very odd message that has nothing to do with the forum.

It said "Enable GingerCannot connect to Ginger Check your internet connection or reload the browserDisable in this text fieldEditLog in to edit with GingerLog in to edit with Ginger×"

Next time you post, please make sure you delete the whole thing before you post.

 

[teemo72]

Sorry. It was a Chrome addon that was doing it. I just removed the addon.

 

[teemo72]

[1] is correct in all contexts.

If the situation of not having eaten is still relevant at the time of asking this question, then [2] is more likely.

What do you mean by "the situation of not having eaten is still relevant"? Could you elaborate?

 

[emsr2d2]

Don't forget that starting with "Did you say that ..." means you must be referring back to a previous (fairly recent) conversation. If you're making lunch and you just want to know if the other person wants to join you, you'd ask either "Would you like to join me for lunch?" or "Have you already eaten?"

 

[teemo72]

Don't forget that starting with "Did you say that ..." means you must be referring back to a previous (fairly recent) conversation. If you're making lunch and you just want to know if the other person wants to join you, you'd ask either "Would you like to join me for lunch?" or "Have you already eaten?"

Got it.

I am just trying to learn how to use a sentence that starts with "Did you say that. . ." It is like a reported speech but not exactly is a reported speech.

 

[emsr2d2]

In your scenario, I'd probably say "Did you say you've [already] eaten?"